As is well known, gas mantles of various metal oxide fabric structures become incandescent when heated in a gas flame. Such mantle structures are relatively fragile and easily broken. Such incandescant gas mantles are used with a variety of burner head structures. Two attachment arrangements are in common use--a first arrangement employing a drawstring or similar cord of thermally stable material (such as ceramic yarn or refractory metal wire) for tying a rag mantle to a burner head, and a second arrangement employing a ceramic support ring and preformed mantle assembly, the mantle assembly support ring having integral inwardly extending rigid fingers designed to rest on lugs carried by the burner head. In the usual situtation, the support ring for the mantle assembly is moved upwardly so that the fingers on the ring pass through spaces defined between the lugs. The mantle assembly is then rotated until the fingers are positioned above the lugs and then the mantle assembly is allowed to drop downwardly so that the fingers rest on the lugs.
Gas lights are incorporated in portable lanterns and in fixed installations that are often mounted on lamp poles. Mantle replacement is necessitated because of the fragile nature of the mantle. When a pole supporting a mantle assembly is jarred, the very light and fragile mantle may be bounced to the extent that it will be dislodged from its position on the burner head at the end of the fuel supply conduit, and if the dislodging causes the mantle to fall or otherwise come in contact with an adjacent solid surface, the mantle fabric will disintegrate.